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Monday, May 11, 2015

Monday Quotable

I read an interesting article about the monetization of happiness this weekend. A project is underway to understand and ultimately "sell" happiness. On one hand, its an interesting concept but on the other hand, I was sort of appalled. Companies looking into how happiness can be bought are not necessarily doing so for the true happiness of employees, but rather for better production. Near the end of the article, which you can check out here, a psychotherapist currently studying unhappiness notes that "happiness economists risk reducing human experience and the mind to the mechanical, all for reasons of political expediency." I agree. I don't like the idea of medicalizing and monetizing happiness for the profit of others. I agree that the ups and downs of life are part of human experience and the thought of selling happiness is a little disturbing. The article also notes that "the project that began as an attempt to understand how humans flourish has become...a route to sell people stuff they don't need, work harder for managers who don't respect them and conform to policy objectives over which they have no say." Ultimately, I think life is like today's quote (which ends the article). Sometimes we are so caught up in finding happiness that we forget to be present in our own lives. There are wonderful, happy moments but we miss them because our heads are somewhere else--focused on that future happiness that we are struggling to find. Most times, it's best to just look at your current state and appreciate all you have to be grateful for. Be happy about that and more happiness will come to you. I promise there is a lot of truth to the principles of the Law of Attraction.

How do you feel about the article? Do you think happiness is something that can be monetized? Sound off in the comments section! Happy Monday!

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hello, my name is nicole!
Nicole’s Curated Life started with a major shift in my life. Over time, it has become a place to share my journey to a life well lived. Whether through inspirational quotes, recipes, music or fitness and beauty tips, the goal is always to encourage my readers to embrace everything in their stories and use what they’ve collected (tangible and intangible) as tools for living a fulfilled life.